Alarm clock



July 2, 1935. E. 1 cARLsoN 2,006,758

ALARM CLOCK Filed Hay 24, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l July 2, 1935. E. L.cARLsoN 2,006,758

ALARM CLOCK Filed May 24, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheetl 2 Patented July 2, 1935UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALARM CLOCK ration Application May 24, 1933,Serial No. 672,542

15 Claims.

'I'his invention relates to alarm clocks, and more particularly to thestriker-actuating mechanism of alarm clocks.

In order to awaken persons known as heavy sleepers, it has beennecessary heretofore to provide alarm clocks with alarm-,sounding meanswhich produce sound of considerable violence. Such violent sound,however, especially shocks or startles persons known as light sleepers,and alarm clocks have therefore sometimes been provided with a doublealarm, the rst of which produces a soft or gentle alarm which issumcient to arouse light sleepers, who thereupon shut oi the alarm. Butif a sleeper does not awaken as a result of the gentle alarm, after acertain period of time the loud or violent alarm sounds.

A considerable objection to the combined soft and loud alarms, asheretofore made, is that they require much additional mechanism withconsequent increased cost.

I have devised an alarm, however, of great simplicity and low cost whichcan be made to accomplish substantially all that is accomplished by thepreviously described combined soft and loud alarms, and which inaddition can be made to operate to give a comparatively low intensity ofsound, thus awakening sleepers without shocking or startling them andwith minimum disturbance to other persons.

A characteristic of my invention resides in providing an alarm in whichthe striker is actuated at varied or irregular intervals, or varied orirregular intensities or combined varied or irregular intervals andintensities. Thus, even though the sound be of low intensity, the lackof uniformity in the intervals and/or intensities between successivebeats during an alarmsounding period, disturbs and awakens the sleeper.

An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide improvedalarm-sounding mechanism of great simplicity and low cost, which shallbe adequate to arouse both heavy and light sleepers without shock, andwith a minimum of disturbance to other persons.

The above and other objects and advantages will appear from thefollowing description, appended claims and accompanying drawings forminga part of this specication.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain ways of carrying out theinvention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, with part of the front movement-platebroken away, of an alarmclock movement embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the striker or hammer-arm;

Fig. 3 is a face elevation of the hammer-actuating wheel assembled withthe center arbor;

Fig. 4 is a left-end elevation of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the shut-ofi lever;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3 of a modied form of hammer-actuatingwheel; and

Fig. '7 is a view similar to Fig. 3 of another modified form ofhammer-actuating Wheel.

Referring to the drawings, I0 and II are the front and rearmovement-plates, held together by the pillars I2 and carrying the partsof the movement of an alarm clock.

The particular movement illustrated has an electric motor I3, preferablysynchronous, which is geared down within the casing I4 to provide anarbor I5 in line with the center or seconds arbor I6 and in drivingengagement with the latter by means of a spur-gear clutch-member IIengaging in an internal-gear clutch-member I8. Arbors I5 and I6 rotateclockwise at the rate of one revolution per minute.

The clutch-member I8 has a reduced portion I9 which extends through thehammer-actuating wheel 20 and is riveted or otherwise attached thereto,and the clutch-member I8 also has a central opening in which the centeror seconds arbor I6 is secured by means of a drive fit or otherwise.

The spur-gear clutch-member II is in driving engagement with thetime-train, generally indicated by the numeral 2|, and by means of whichthe minute-sleeve 22 and hour-sleeve 23 are driven.

The bell or alarm-sounding member 24 is supported by the bracket 25which is bolted to the rear movement-plate II. A hammer-arm 26 issecured on an arbor 21 pivoted in the movementplates I0 and II, andcarries a hammer-actuating finger 28 adapted to engage with camoractuating-elements 29 formed on the periphery of the hammer-actuatingwheel 20. The extension 3D of the hammer-arm is engaged by a spring 3Ianchored in the hole 32 in the front movementplate I0, which springtends to pull the extension 30 upwardly about the pivot of the arbor 21to thrust the hammer 33 downwardly into striking engagement with thebell 24.

The rear upward extension 34 of the hammerarm 26 forms a hammer-tailadapted to strike against the upper left pillar I2 (Fig. 1) toresiliently limit the downward swinging movement of the hammer 33. Dueto the slenderness and resilience of the hammer-tail and the hammerarm,and due to the weight of the hammer 33, when one of the projections orcams 29 lifts and releases the hammer-actuating finger 28, the spring 30causes the hammer 33 to be swung downwardly toward the bell 24 from itsdotted position shown in Fig. 1, until the hammer-tail 34 strikes theupper left pillar I2 (Fig. 1) and tends to stop the hammer in theposition in which it is shown in full lines in Fig. 1, but due to theinertia of the hammer 33 and the resilience or spring of the hammer-tailand hammer-arm, the hammer 33 moves downwardly until it strikes the bell24, whereupon it springs back to its normal position slightly above thebell, as shown in full lilies in Fig. l,

35 is the usual hand-set arbor or staff. The alarm-set arbor or staff36, through the usual suitable gearing, actuates the arbor 31 which hassecured thereto the alarm-cam finger 38. The alarm-wheel 39 is fixed tothe alarm-cam sleeve 40 which is rotatable and slidable on the arbor 31and normally pushed toward the front movement-plate I 0 by means of thealarm-control spring 4I which is secured to the front movementplate at42, and extends past the arbor 31 and is provided with an alarm-controlnger 43 having a cam-surface 44.

By means of the alarm-set arbor vor stall" 36, the alarm-cam finger 38is rotated to bring it into any desired alarm-time position, inaccordance with an alarm-dial (not shown) in the usual and well-knownway.

The alarm-wheel 39 is in driven engagement with the time-train whichdrives the minuteand hour-sleeves 22 and 23. When the alarm-wheel 39 hasrotated to the position where the alarm is to sound, the notch 45 in thecam-sleeve comes opposite the cam-finger 28, thereby permitting thealarm-control spring 4| to push the alarmwheel 39 and cam-sleeve 40axially along the staff 31 and thereby permit the cam-surface 44 toswing laterally out of the path which it normally occupies in restingagainst the upwardlyextending portion 46 of the hammer-arm 26,'

thereby permitting the hammer 33 to move downwardly from the dottedposition shown in Fig. l to its full-line position, thereby bringing thehammer-actuating finger 28 into position to be lifted by thecam-elements 29 formed on the periphery of the hammer-actuating wheel2U, which at all times rotates at one R. P. M. in the type of clockillustrated in the drawings.

Each time one of the cam-elements 29 raises and releases thehammer-actuating finger 28, the hammer 33 is caused to strike a blowagainst the bell 24. This alarm-sounding action continues until thehammer 33 is lifted and held in its raised dotted-line position (Fig.l). The hammer israised and held in this position by means of thecam-surface 44 on the alarm-control iinger 43, which is gradually forcedinto engagement with the upwardly-extending portion 46 of the hammer-arm26 as the cam-sleeve 40 is rotated by the time-train to cause thecam-surface 41 of the alarm-cam sleeve 4U to wipe against the alarm-camnger 38 and shift the alarmcam sleeve 40 longitudinally of the arbor 31to push the alarm-control spring 4|, with its integral alarm-controlfinger 43, to move the camsurface 44 into forcible engagement with theportion 46 of the hammer-arm 26 to raise and hold the hammer 33 in thedotted-line position (Fig. 1).

A shut-off lever 48 is pivoted at 49 and is normally thrust upwardagainst the limit-linger 50 by means of the spring 5| and has a lateralextension 52 provided with a bifurcated end 53 adapted to be engaged andpushed downwardly and pulled upwardly by any suitable means, such as analarm-shut-oif plunger (not shown). The

yshut-off lever 48 is provided with a latching-end 54 which, when forceddownwardly, rides along the cam-surface 55 of the hammer-tail 34, so asto swing the hammer-arm upwardly to bring the hammer 33 in the inactivedotted position shown in Fig. 1, whereupon the latching-end 54 snapsbeneath the keeper 56 to hold the hammer in its inoperative position.

When it is desired to release the hammer in order that it may beactuated in time to give an alarm, the alarm-shut-off plunger (notshown), which engages the bifurcated end 53, is pulled upwardly, whichcauses the latch-end 54 to snap upwardly past the keeper 56 so as torelease the hammer-arm 26, which is then swung downwardly to operativeposition by means of the spring 3|.

Inasmuch as the hammer-actuating wheel 20 rotates at uniform speed, thetimes at which the hammer 33 strikes the bell 24 will be determined bythe relative spacing between the cam-elements 2S] around the wheel 20,in the form of hammeractuating wheel shown in Figs. 1 and 3. 'I'hecam-elements 29 are arranged in successive groups of one, two and threecam-elements, so that if the hammer-actuating finger 28 happens todescend at. a location between the one-andthree group of cam-elements,the hammer will be caused to strike one, one-two, one-two-three (as thehammer-actuating wheel 20 rotates clockwise) and then repeat this cycleover indefinitely.

If the hammer-actuating finger 28 happens to descend at some otherlocation, the first contact of the hammer with the bell may be to givetwo blows or three blows, depending on whether it descends just ahead ofa two group or a three group of cam-elements, but inany case, regardlessof where the hammer-actuating finger 28 happens to start, the alarm willbe produced as a succession of varied or irregular beats which have apowerful awakening quality, even though the intensity of the blow on thebell be very mild.

In Fig. 6 is shown a modified form of actuatingwheel 51 in which agreater range of variation is produced in the beats or blows struck uponthe bell 24 by means of a greater range of variation in the grouping ofthe cam-elements 29.

In Fig. 7 is shown another modified form of actuating-wheel 58 in whichcertain of the camelements are of differing height to vary the intensityof the beats or blows struck upon the bell 24. The cam-elements 29 areof the same height, while the cam-elements 59 are somewhat higher thanthe cam-elements 29 and cam-elements 60 are somewhat higher thancam-elements 59. It will be observed that this form of construction isadapted to actuate the striker at combined varied intervals andintensities. It will be obvious that this construction could be further"changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appendedclaims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. An` alarm clock comprising: time mechanism including a center arbor,operating mechanism for said time mechanism, an alarm-sounding member, astriker for striking said alarmsounding member, and striker-actuatingmechanism including a wheel mounted on said center arbor and havingelements adapted to actuate said striker at varied intervals during analarmsounding period.

2. An alarm clock comprising: time mechanism including a center arbor,operating mechanism for said time mechanism, an alarmsounding member, astriker for striking said alarm-sounding member, and striker-actuatingmechanism including a wheel mounted on said center arbor and havingvaried-spaced elements adapted to actuate said striker at variedintervals during an alarm-sounding period.

3. An electric alarm clock comprising: time mechanism including aseconds arbor, an electric motor actuated mechanism for rotating saidseconds arbor, an alarm-sounding member, a strikerfor striking saidalarm-sounding member, and striker-actuating mechanism including a wheelmounted on said seconds arbor and having elements adapted to actuatesaid striker at varied intervals during an alarm-sounding period.

4. An electric alarm clock comprising: time mechanism including aseconds arbor, an electric motor actuated mechanism for rotating saidseconds arbor, an alarm-sounding member, a striker for striking saidalarm-sounding member, and striker-actuating mechanism including a wheelmountedV on said seconds arbor and having varied-spaced elements adaptedto actuate said striker at varied intervals during an alarmsoundingperiod.

5. An alarm clock comprising: time mechanism and operating mechanismtherefor, an alarm-sounding member, a striker for striking saidalarm-sounding member, and striker-actuating mechanism adapted toactuate said striker at varied intervals and intensities during analarm-sounding period.

6. An alarm clock comprising: time mechanism and operating mechanismtherefor, an alarm-sounding member, a striker for striking saidalarm-sounding member, and striker-actuating mechanism adapted toactuate said striker at varied intensities inrepeated cycles during analarm-sounding period.

'7. An alarm clock comprising: time mechanism and operating mechanismtherefor, an alarm-sounding member, a striker for striking saidalarm-sounding member, and striker-actuating mechanism adapted toactuate said striker at varied intervals and intensities in repeatedcycles during an alarm-sounding period.

8. An alarm clock comprising: time mechanism including a center arbor,operating mechanism for said time mechanism, an alarm-sounding member, astriker for striking said alarmsounding member, and striker-actuatingmechasaid striker at varied intensities during an alarmsounding period.

9. An alarm clock comprising: time mechanism including a center arbor,operating mechanism for said time mechanism, an alarm-sounding member, astriker for striking said alarmsounding member, and striker-actuatingmechanism including a wheel mounted on said center arbor and havingelements adapted to actuate said striker at varied intervals andintensities during an alarm-sounding period.

10. An alarm clock comprising: time mechanism including a center arbor,operating mechanism for said time mechanism, an alarm-sounding member, astriker for striking said alarmsounding member, and striker-actuatingmechanism including av wheel mounted on said center arbor and havingelements adapted to actuate said striker at varied intensities inrepeated cycles during an alarm-sounding period.

11. An alarm clock comprising: time mechanism including a center arbor,operating mechanism for said time mechanism, an alarm-sounding member, astriker for striking said alarmsounding member, and striker-actuatingmechanism including a wheel mounted on said center arbor and havingelements adapted to actuate said striker at varied intervals andintensities in repeated cycles during an alarm-sounding,

seconds arbor, an alarm-sounding member, a

striker for striking said alarm-sounding member, and striker-actuatingmechanism including a wheel mounted on said seconds arbor and havingelements adapted to actuate said striker at varied intensities during analarm-sounding period.

13. An electric alarm clock comprising: time mechanism including aseconds arbor, an electric motor actuated mechanism for rotating saidseconds arbor, an alarm-sounding member, a striker for striking saidalarm-sounding member, and striker-actuating mechanism including a Wheelmounted on said seconds arbor and having elements adapted to actuatesaid striker at varied intervals and intensities during analarm-sounding period.

14. An electric alarm clock comprising: time mechanism including aseconds arbor, an electric motor actuated mechanism for rotating saidseconds arbor, an alarm-sounding member, a striker for striking saidalarm-sounding member, and striker-actuating mechanism including a wheelmounted on said seconds arbor and having elements adapted to actuatesaid striker at varied intensities in repeated cycles during analarmsounding period.

15. An electric alarm clock comprising: time mechanism including aseconds arbor, an electric motor actuated mechanism for rotating saidseconds arbor, an alarm-sounding member, a striker for striking saidalarm-sounding member, and striker-actuating mechanism including a wheelmounted on said seconds arbor and having elements adapted to actuatesaid striker at varied intervals and intensities in repeated cyclesduring an alarm-sounding period.

ELOF L. CARLSON.

